Hand luggage



7 May 18, 1937.

G. H. WHEARY HAND LUGGAGE Filed July 13, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l May. 18,1937. G. H. WHEARY HAND LUGGAGE Filed July 15, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Vfipazy Patented May 18,1937

' UNITED STATES HAND LUGGAGE George Henry Wheary, Racine, Wis., assignorto Wheary Trunk Company, Racine, W1s., a corporation of WisconsinApplication July 13, 1935, Serial No. 31,211

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in luggage and refers moreparticularly to ladies hand luggage.

It is an object of this invention to provide a wardrobe case wherein thegarment carrying means is of improved design and construction so as tofacilitate packing of the case.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hand luggage case ofthe character described which is so constructed that the garments may bestraightened to fold neatly over the bar of the carrying fixture astheir individual hangers are secured in position.

Another object of this invention is to provide a simplified and improvedgarment carrying fixture for hand luggage of the character describedwhich is so constructed that the individual garment hangers are moreeasily placed in position or removed so that the hangers (with garmentsthereon) above any selected lower garment may be removed with one hand,leaving the other hand free to lift off the hanger carrying the selectedgarment.

A further object of this invention is to provide a garment carryingfixture for luggage cases of the character described wherein the usualfabric garment cover with which such cases are equipped is carried bythe garment carrying fixture per so so as to be removable from the casewith the fixture to protect the garments from soiling. With the aboveand other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds,this invention resides in the novel construction, combination andarrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described and moreparticularly defined by the appended claim, it being understood thatsuch changes in the precise embodiment of the hereindisclosed inventionmay be made as come within the scope of the claim.

The accompanying drawings illustrate two complete examples of thephysical embodiment of the invention constructed according to the bestmodes so far devised for the practical application of the principlesthereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a ladys hand luggage case embodyingthis invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the garment carrying fixture per se;

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing a portion of the case with thegarment carrying fixture in its raised position;

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail perspective vie of part of the garmentcarrying fixture; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective View of a slightly modifiedembodiment of the invention.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings in whichlike numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, thenumeral 4 designates the main section of the garment carrying casewhich, as is customary, has a cover 5 hingedly connected thereto toswing from a closed position to an open position disposed substantiallyat right angles thereto. The main section has a handle 6 attached to itsWall E opposite its hinged connection with the cover, and suitable latchmeans are provided for securing the cover closed.

The garment carrying fixture, indicated gen- 5 erally by the numeral 8,comprises a substantially U-shaped frame composed of side bars 9connected at their outer ends by a cross bar Hi. The inner end portionsll of the side bars 9 are bent at an angle, as shown, and pivotallyconnected to supports l2 detachably secured to the side walls 13 of themain section by being received in slideways 14.

The angularly disposed portions H of the side arms are connected by atransverse bar [5. This bar has the usual fabric garment cover I6detachably secured thereto by having one edge portion folded about thebar and there secured by snap fasteners ll. At its center, the foldededge portion of the cover is cut away to expose a looped chain Itattached to the transverse bar IE to provide means for hanging thefixture from a hook when the same is removed from the case.

Directly adjacent their inclined portions l I, the side arms 9 havehanger supports 19 fixed thereto. These hanger supports, as best shownin Figure 4, comprise angles 20 stamped from stifi sheet metal rivetedto the inner faces of the side arms 9. Secured to and projecting up fromthe flanges 2| of each ofthe angles 20 is a pair of parallel spaced rods22 and 23. Both rods project a substantial distance up from the flanges2| and the rods 22 have hinged outer sections 24 adapted to swing frompositions of axial alignment with the rods 22 into positions parallelwith the transverse bar l5. The rods 23 are of a length to extend to thehinged connection between the rods 22 and their extensions 24.

The space between the rods 22 and 23 is sulficient to accommodate thehooked ends 25 of individual garment hangers 26, but is not sufficientto allow detachment of the hooked ends 25 from the rods 22 except bysliding the same outwardly on the rods 22 past the ends of the rods 23which necessitates the hinged outer sections 24 being in their extendedpositions shown in Figure 1.

Hence, as long as the hinged extensions 24 are swung down into theirpositions parallel with the transverse bar IS in which positions theyoverlie the garment hangers, detachment of the hangers from theirsupports is impossible.

To hold the fabric cover in place, cross straps 21 are sewed thereto andthe ends of these straps have hooks 28 adapted to engage in eyes 29formed in metal plates fixed to the side arms 9 and the angles 20. Thestraps 21 are sewed to the cover IS in such position that the cover willbe held in its position properly covering the garments carried by thefixture. If desired, the straps securing the cover in place may beseparate from the cover, as specifically shown in Figure 5.

In packing, the case is placed upon a. support with its cover in anupright substantially vertical position, as shown in Figure 1, and withthe garment carrying frame in its horizontal position disposed acrossthe open top of the main section where it is supported by flanges 30carried by the side walls l3. In this position of the frame, the garmentsupporting bar is adjacent the front Wall I of the main section.

The individual garments are draped over single hangers which are appliedor attached to their supports one at a time and as the hangers areattached to their supports, the garments draped thereon are neatlyarranged, particularly where they fold over the supporting bar l0. Afterall of the garments have been packed in this manner, the hinged outersections 24 of the hanger supports are folded down to prevent detachmentof the hangers, and the garment supporting frame is then swung up to itsupright position which permits the depending portions of the garments tobe straightened.

The fabric cover l6 having previously been folded back over the top ofthe cover of the case is then brought forwardly over the garments andsecured in position.

It will be observed that this manner of mounting the individual hangersmaterially facilitates the packing of the case as it permits thegarments to be straightened out and properly arranged on the garmentsupporting bar I0 as they are packed in the case, for when the case isin position for packing and the extensions 24 of the rods 22 are raisedto form continuations thereof, they extend a substantial distance beyondthe ends of the rod 23 and thus provide long supports with which thehanger hooks 25 are readily engageable when working from the front ofthe case. The application of the hanger hooks to the supports is thusmaterially facilitated as the extensions 24 guide the hooks into thespace between the rods 22 and 23.

Removal of the hangers is also materially facilitated by thisconstruction. The individual hanger hooks slide freely in the spacebetween.

the rods 22 and 23, and when the extensions 24 are raised, it is a.simple matter to remove any selected garment although it may be on oneof the lower hangers. To do so, it is only necessary to remove all ofthe hangers (with the garments thereon) which happen to be above theselected garment with one hand and bring them forward so that with theother hand the hanger carrying the selected garment may be removed. Thisdoes not disturb the arrangement of the other garments which may bereturned to packed position.

Another very advantageous feature of the present construction resides inthe fact that the fabric cover is carried by the removable garmentsupporting fixture so that it is not necessary to disturb thearrangement of the garments by removal of the cover when it is desiredto bodily remove the entire garment carrying fixture with the garmentsthereon from the case, and further, after such removal, the cover servesto protect the garments from soiling. I

What I claim as my invention is:

In a garment carrying frame for hand luggage cases, which frame is ofthe type having spaced parallel side bars connected at one end by atransverse garment supporting bar and at the other end by a transversetie rod, and in which the last named ends of the side bars have meansfor hingedly mounting the. frame in a'hand luggage case, improvedgarment hanger retaining means comprising a shelf-like bracket carriedby each side bar adjacent its hinged end andlying on a planesubstantially parallel'with the general plane of the frame, and a pairof spaced parallel posts fixed to each bracket at substantially equaldistances from the side bar and projecting up from the bracket to besubstantially perpendicular to the general plane of the frame, the postof each pair nearest to the transverse garment supporting bar beinglonger than the other to fa-

